Welcome to the Web home of the Inland Children's Chorus!

This site is dedicated to preserving and making widely available the history and music of the Inland Children's Chorus, which was an original and historically unique contribution by American industry to young people, the community, and the performing arts.

The Chorus was sponsored from 1936 to 1970 by the Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors Corporation to give 8- to 16-year-old children of employees "a musical education and training which they otherwise might not be able to obtain and to make a contribution to the cultural life of Inland employees and the community." Inland engaged Broadway theatrical designer and Tony Award nominee Raymond Sovey to stage the concerts. The Chorus often performed with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and gained national acclaim on radio and television. The Inland Children's Chorus has been called "one of Dayton's greatest by-products of industry." (DPO70)

John D. O'Brien (audio), Inland General Manager, reflects on the history of the Chorus and suggests why a large corporation might value tradition
and the performing arts. Learn the history of Inland: see GM Heritage Center posting and Inland 50th anniversary booklet.

Special Collections and Archives, located in the Wright State University Libraries in Dayton, Ohio, works with this website to collect and to preserve materials related to the Inland Children's Chorus (link to MS-432). See photos from the meeting at Wright State to launch the Inland Children's Chorus Collection on the about us page.

Help complete our history by sharing your comments or memories on the
forum page and by contributing photos, articles, records, or other items for the website and Special Collections. For more information, see a Dayton Daily Newsfeature article.